Inferior BMW Sat Nav (e70)!

[55NF]

The BMW Navigation is inferior  to many others in my opinion.  The Mercedes Command on my previous C350  far excels the BMW Nav on my Sept 2011 40D.

Over 1200o miles I've the BMW Nav in my X5 slow & recalculating routes is just too much to ask it to do.    So many times I drive past a road that I should have turned into as the Nav is so slow.

Here's an example, I bought a Garmin LM595 LMT a couple of weeks ago  for wifes 118d Sport & have been running it alongside the BMW I Drive in my X5........ IT IS far superior. Re-routing, speed & accuracy is just better.  BMW Nav disc is 200 GBP plus!  Update the Garmin online for nothing, I guess all we're paying for is the compact & fitted practicaility of BMW.  The Garmin has everything the BMW Nav has.      If only I could transfer Merc Command to the BMW I'd be happy, second choice Garmin.

[X5Sport]

The price of the upgrades is indeed ridiculous so it cannot be a surprise there are so many 'other players' in the market now.  I've not got a recent price for the Pro Nav map update but I know it's either 3 DVDs and a licence key from BMW, or a connection to the Dealer's on line portal to put the latest maps and other info in.  £200 is way too high really, especially as the underlying map data often seems to lag far behind reality on the roads.  I don't think it's worth updating for several years which defeats the whole reason for having these systems.  But are the other major manufacturers similarly expensive?  The one for my 2003 Octavia L&K was not far short of the price BMW charged in 2004/5.  A large chunk is possibly exorbitant licensing fees.

I've not noticed mine being slow at re-routing or telling me I need to turn etc.  It can be 'determined' to get me back to where it thinks I should have gone if that's what you were referring too.  Poor traffic conditions on the original route have always resulted in an alternate being produced quickly, and you can of course write your own in Google Maps and send it to the car.

[carsonr6]

BMW navigation has always been terrible in my opinion. It's the only thing I've ever hated about any of my bmws

[stevee]

I think the CiC navigation is pretty good. Downloading POI's via google maps is easy, changing the route and rerouting have worked well. I have the nav in a mini (basically the same system) and use that frequently for work .. without issue. I previously used a connected Garmin - can't say it was any better.

[MJim]

The updated maps are not worth bothering with.  I get free updates having complained strongly re how useless the SatNav system is on the car having bought it new last year. It remains v poor after each 'upgrade'. I still find that many (often v old addresses) cannot be input. Frustrating as they are on the NavTeq website but haven't made it to their BMW system eg my parents address is 300 years old and still doesn't feature.  I therefore try to send the address to the car before travelling via google maps which works well, but not much of a help on the move.  It got me completely lost on the way to Goodwood a couple of months ago, shortly following an upgrade, as it didn't reflect road changes that looked a couple of years old. It is also v slow which catches me out where there are rapid consecutive directions required. I presume they've put a weak computer in the car despite the £2k option price tag.  The customer services manager that I speak to has given up trying to defend the system and now tells me how cr*p the system is in her BMW.

[X5Sport]

+1 for the slow updates.  There are roads around here built more than two years ago still not 'on the map'.  Speed limits are wrong (good thing I have the camera to pick up the signs and show them on the HUD!  I now onky change maps at three to 5 year intervals.  The Mini ones are free for the first three years, but I bet when the X6 goes in on Thurs for this 'Comfort System Update' - which hopefully is the anti-theft mod - and it's due a service the maps will be unchanged.

That being said, I have a Road Angel Vantage with a feedback system to let them know of limit changes over the air and those are still wrong after more than two-years.  A recent database update put 40mph limits in where none exist, or a different limit applies.

Richard

[MJim]

Just raised the matter of the poor cruise control again with customer services.  Was told again that they would take note and pass this complaint on.  I'm not sure of these complaints get binned straight away or passed on and then binned?  Nothing has changed since I bought the car, and addresses that are on NavTeq's own website still aren't on the BMW system.  I drove to a 19th century property this weekend that wasn't on the satnav.  I just cannot understand why, and am at a loss as to why this would and continues to be the case.
Come on BMW, get your act together.  The excellent work of the engineers is being undermined by clowns elsewhere in the business.